5 Glorious Days in Arizona

April 15th:

• Arrived at Sky Harbor at 9am
• Dad picked me up and we went to Tonalea to say hi to mom. I got a hug from every kid in her kindergarten class.
• Walked to Grandma Hazel's around 10am. I turned the corner and this is what I see - I guess she was so excited to see me that she forgot she was outside with her walker. She doesn't want to neighbors to see her "like this" and she would not be happy with me if she knew this was posted on the internet.

• I drove my Grandma to Whole Foods in north Scottsdale because she loves to buy the same food that I buy.
• We went to lunch at La Grande Orange.
• Layed out in the sun and took a nap in the afternoon.
• Went to the gym with mom and ran 3 miles.
• Met Scott and Julie for dinner and then went to Oregano's for a pizzookie.

Brady looks just like his dad.

April 16th:

• Got up early and hiked Camelback with mom and dad.
• Got a little sweat on my phone during the hike and the buttons stopped working. Went to the Verizon store to try to get a new phone but they could not give me a new phone that they had in the store - it had to be shipped since it was still under warranty. It was quite nice not having work email for 4 days :)
• Stopped at La Grande Orange and picked up lunch.
• Went to Kellyn's class and gave them a geography lesson. Here is Kellyn with her 1st graders - she is a permanent sub for the remainder of the year.

• Met Kathryn at The Gelato Spot. She had never been before.

• Met Tim for coffee at Starbucks (although neither of us actually had coffee).
• Went to dinner at Marcella's Italian Kitchen for mom's birthday (which was the previous Monday).

This picture made me laugh - they were all waiting to cross the street. Dad was on crutches because he had dropped an old TV on his ankle earlier in the day, Kellyn was leading Grandma Lois with her walker and Coby was holding on to Grandma Hazel. Ready, set, go everyone!

• After dinner we came back to mom and dad's for dessert (Kellyn made brownies).

April 17th:

• Total body conditioning class at the gym at 9:45am.
• Went to Christine's to get my hair cut and highlighted. I still have not even looked for a hair person in NYC.
• Stopped at Montana and Aubrey's for a short visit. I also needed to meet Charlie (their new puppy).
• Took Lauren to dinner at Culinary Dropout for her 30th birthday. We then walked to The Gelato Spot for dessert.

April 18th:

• Got up early and met Jenn and her friend Katie at Camelback Mountain for an early morning hike.

• Went to church at Scottsdale Baptist. The picture below is with Mr. Mericle. I had him in 3rd grade as my Children's Church teacher, and my mom says he asks about me every week. He will be 90 in a few weeks.

• Layed out in the sun for an hour.
• Went to Nikki and Steve's wedding (the main purpose of my trip). The wedding was in Fountain Hills - it was so nice outside.

April 19th:

• Went to see Dr. Deroin.
• Met Jenn, Jaime and little Blake for lunch at True Foods. It was so good and we had a great time - it is great being able to pick up right where you left off.

• After lunch, Kellyn and I went to the gym and ran for a half hour.
• I mowed part of the yard (something I miss in NYC).
• Mom had the grandma's over for dinner.
• Left PHX for JFK at 10:20pm.

It was a great trip home and I never feel like I have enough time. I think that means I am meant to live in the west :)

Christmas Tree Cutting

On December 5, 2009, a group from church was heading to Maple Row Tree Farm in Connecticut to cut down Christmas trees. I did not want a tree, but decided to go with everyone to get out of the City for a day. It was a cold day, and started snowing just as we were leaving the farm.

There were wreaths for sale (which I did consider buying one).

Part of our group - Nathan, Stephanie, Nathan, Me and Jon

Dina, Jessica Joy and I

They loaded us on the back of a trailor and drove us out to the farm.

Jessica Joy and I

Lots and lots of trees. You can go here to cut your own tree, or they bring them into the City to sell (see previous post on how trees are sold in the City).

Some of the guys - Nathan, Jon, Mike and Nathan

We spent a lot of our time around this trash can - there was a fire going inside of it.

Only one couple bought a tree - good thing too because it took a lot just to tie this one tree to the top of the van.

Jessica Joy and Misha - we stopped at a famous restaurant on our way back but I forgot the name of it.

The group (minus me).

Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are Made Of...

Here is a quick recap of December in NYC in pictures.

On December 1, the Suns were in town playing the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. I got a group of people together to go to the game with me. Unfortunately, the Suns lost - big time. Still fun to see them in purple.

Some of my co-workers from Phoenix were in town for a training in Montvale, NJ. They took the train and met me in the City one night. We went to Caffe Buon Gusto in my neighborhood and then walked around mid-town and Rockefeller Center to see the tree.

This is how Christmas trees are sold in NYC - just on the side of the street.

A group of my friends from Trinity Grace. We met at Rockefeller Center and...

...walked through Saks 5th Ave and...

...saw A Christmas Carol in 3D.

Tim and his brothers drove in for the day. We walked through mid-town and Central Park, went to Totonno's in my neighborhood for lunch, went to The Met and then went to the WTC site. We had a little fun with the mustaches - don't know where we got them.

I met some friends from church for a happy hour at Rolf's in Gramercy Park area. As you can see, they go crazy with their Christmas decorations.

I also saw Shrek on Broadway before it left in early January.